Paul Ginsparg has been Professor of Physics and Information Science at Cornell University since 2001. He received a B.A. in Physics from Harvard University (1977), and a doctorate in theoretical particle physics from Cornell University (1981). He was in the Society of Fellows at Harvard (1981-1984), then faculty member in the physics department at Harvard University until 1990 and a staff member in the theoretical division of Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1990-2001. Professor Ginsparg has authored papers in quantum field theory, string theory, conformal field theory, and quantum gravity. While visiting Aspen in the summer of 1991, he started the e-print archives (now arXiv.org). He has served on many committees including the U.S. National Committee for CODATA, other N.R.C., N.A.S., and AAAS committees, the NIH PubMedCentral national advisory board, the American Physical Society publications oversight committee, and the Public Library of Science advisory board. In 1998, he received the P.A.M. (physics astronomy math) award from the Special Libraries Association, in 2000 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, in 2002 was named a MacArthur Fellow, in 2005 received the Council of Science Editors (CSE) Award for Meritorious Achievement, in 2006 received the Paul Evans Peters Award from Educause, ARL, and CNI, in 2008 was named a Radcliffe Institute Fellow, in June 2013 was named a "White House Champion of Change", in 2017 received an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and was the 2020 recipient of the Karl T. Compton award for Leadership in Physics. Abstract: arXiv began in the print-only era in 1991. Started at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and known as xxx.lanl.gov until 1998, it was intended to level the global research playing field by providing equal-time access to the latest research results. I will review some of the considerations in its inception and early development, give a very brief sociological overview of the current metastable state of scholarly research communication, and then a technical discussion of the practical implications of literature and usage data considered as computable objects, using arXiv as exemplar. Please register for the event at the following link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HQvQ6zwyQfuWiooME68sWA After registering, you will receive a confirmation email. All are welcome to attend!